Influence of Ugarit on the understanding of the Hebrew Bible

Abstract

Prior to the discovery of the Ugaritic texts at Ras Shamra in 1929, the Hebrew Bible was considered the leading authority on the Canaanite religion. An abundance of tablets were uncovered at Ras Shamra, disclosing that Ugaritic is of great significance for research on the development of the Canaanite script and literature. Although belonging to the Canaanite family, the Ugaritic cuneiform alphabetic and consonant script is closer to biblical Hebrew. Both in context and language, epics in the Ugaritic and the biblical literature have much in common. The majority of these texts are of mythological character, furnishing information on the cults of, inter alia, the deities Ba„al, El, and Asherah. The Ugaritic texts evince certain cultural similarities with early Israelite material and thus provide some background regarding the development of the Israelite religion. The aim of this article is to indicate that the Canaanite cult and the gods of the Ugaritic pantheon played a significant role in the religion of Israel. Knowledge of this role contributes to our understanding of the history of the Hebrew Bible.